» Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:07 pm There is a main thread for this subject, so clipping it and commenting there...my bad.
Just a quick thread on what the community wants for the next installment of Bethsda's epic win. The Elder Scrolls 5
Due to be out...sometime before the sun stops shining I guess...lets hope the fan base doesnt grow old and die waiting on it.
Anyhow, my hopes
1) Expansive character scripting to really bring the NPCs to life. Dependencies on your character, class, disposition, location, etc...along with subscripting for behavioral patterns, such as eating, sleeping, being bored, remembering talking to people, flirtations, potential preganacys and children, etc...aka, watch TS3 for a few days and see how they have done their AI for the NPCs (potential PCs if you choose to select em)
2) open borders for expansions - Why must I go into portals in oblivion? Why didnt Bethsda simply do a Hammerfell expansion, or Skyrim expansion...or even the black marsh. Dont divide the world...expand it, and have expansions flop over into the main land your dealing with. Frankly, if TES5 came out and one requirement was to have TES4 installed so it expanded the world...that would be beautiful (so long as they overwrite all the old stuff with a new engine, AI, items, etc...)
3) Stronger mod tools. I think at this point, Beth knows that the strength of their games lies not in just the brilliance of what they do conceptually, but that once released, they can sit back and let us modders expand beyond their wildest dreams...making for one of the strongest reasons why PC gamers must buy it...even if they have no overwhelming desire to play RPGs in general, people whom like to tinker and get their name out will grab it. A direct .obj importing system (or making it easier) would be great...but once again, I point back to the first...scripting scripting scripting...NPCs make or break the world, be it a clever combat AI, or a lifelike "downtime" AI...the more people care about their companions and hate their enemy, the more profound the game is.
4) *more than 1 mesh per race!!!!!* I want short fat imperial merchants near tall gangly imperial mages standing by midsize tankshaped imperial warriors...why must there be only 1 shape per race...WEAK! Please, oh please make the mesh fully moddable (women with big...attributes standing near the same race of someone wafe thin and technically a woman but not very blessed)...all dependent on their class, activity, perhaps a new attribute for NPCs like vanity, etc...and make it count...if you see a fat bandit, you know he isnt going to be running fast or very far...but if you see a athletic person, you know that is going to be quite a sprinter...and that guy that looks like a brick wall...slow, but dont get hit by him)
5) Offical flying mounts. Not very necessary to literally code it in actually, but do keep in mind that if you dont do it, a modder somewhere will, and so design the world with Z in mind...maybe make the air thin if you really dont want people flying around so if you go too high up, a dizzy blurry feeling happens to potential blackout and damage...etc. Either do it properly, or do things to really damage the potential...but do something either way...(I suggest open cities and tower archers)
6) NPCs NPCs NPCs...fill the world...make it a option of course if you want a quiet world or a bustling busy filled world. For now, we have to download like 3 mods just to get the roads used and cities full, else its a bloody ghost town everywhere you go. This also means more expansive cities of course (wow, a thief could actually make a living with all these homes in the residental district)
7) look at popular oblivion modding sites...those top 100 lists are top for a reason...its what people desire. You dont have to do all the work...whatever you do, the modding community will change and improve upon anyhow, but look at the core concepts. Companions, eye candy, and a good fight experience/expansive magical system are ultimately the order of the day.
I could go on and on...but those I would venture to say are the top desires of what I would want/expect from TES5. (bullet-time for random cool moves would be nice in battle btw...)
However, if Beth continues to drag its feet for ages...then toss in there a good holographic interface and better flavoring on the matrix mudcrab cakes...lets hope it comes out before that though (come on beth...what happened to 2010 anyhow)
